Marshals: Alamo en route to Arkansas

Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK — Evangelist and convicted tax evader Tony Alamo left Arizona for Arkansas under the watch of federal marshals Monday, preparing to answer to charges that he took children across state lines for criminal purposes.

U.S. Marshal Richard O’Connell of Fort Smith told The Associated Press that Alamo was en route to Texarkana, but declined to offer any details on how officials would be transporting the 74-year-old. FBI agents arrested Alamo at a luxury resort in Flagstaff, Ariz., late last month.

State and federal agents raided Alamo’s Fouke compound Sept. 20, searching for evidence that children there had been molested or filmed having sex. Federal court documents filed in Arizona, calling Alamo by his birth name of Bernie Hoffman, show police believe he took children across state lines to engage in “sexual activity.”

State authorities later took six girls from the compound, ages 10 to 17, into protective custody. Officials have declined to say what the girls told them, and an arrest warrant for Alamo remains sealed in federal court.

Alamo has not been indicted by a federal grand jury. A new panel in Fort Smith was sworn in last week.

Little Rock lawyer Patrick Beneca, one of several representing Alamo, said he visited the evangelist last week in Flagstaff.

“The government hasn’t moved forward with what I would call formal information, so we’re just waiting and seeing,” Beneca said.